


HOLLOW

by HaruPotter15



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Animal Instincts, Fluff and Angst, Ghouls, Hybrids, M/M, Mild Smut, Nesting, Possessive Behavior, Scenting, Scents & Smells, Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, hollows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2020-10-18 15:33:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 15,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20641496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaruPotter15/pseuds/HaruPotter15
Summary: Klaus drags the tips of his fingers from the middle of Zero's chest down to his soft stomach. "Purr for me," he murmurs hotly, equal parts commanding and possessive. His eyes flash gold as Zero arches into his touch with a delicate purr.OR; Klaus falls for a smart mouthed waiter who isn't as human as he makes himself out to be.





	1. Chapter 1

_the chapters for this fic will be short and around 1000 words each//._

dedicated to [zero](https://www.quotev.com/softzero) <3

**Chapter One:**

"I'll have the veggie plate, but instead of carrots I want kale and instead of broccoli, _more_ kale. I want the veggies steamed and instead of dressing I want _extra_ kale." The brown haired female twists a lock of her thin hair between her fingers, brown eyes looking the waiter at the end of the table up and down. 

"Don't you need to write this down?" She asks mockingly, making the other three girls at her table giggle.

"I'm scared that if I start writing it down, it'll turn into a suicide note," the waiter clips, tapping his purple glitter pen against his notepad. 

Rebekah snorts loudly from where's she's at, hiding her amused expression behind a menu as she overhears the conversation. Klaus leans his chin into the palm of his hand, eyeing the art on the wall with mild interest as he rubs his other hand under his oddly sensitive noise. There's a sweet, fruity smell in the air that's assaulting his nose. It smells nice, comfortable almost. Oddly... _Familiar_. Like he's smelled it once before. 

They're sat at the new diner on the outskirts of Mystic Falls. It's a small, cosy place with red booths and large windows, the walls are covered in nice art and there's a long counter at the front with red stools.

The waiter walks around to their table, completely ignoring the four girls who had just made their order. 

Klaus eyes the male over, nose twitching. He has fluffy black hair and nice gray eyes. He's dressed in a dark green apron, an oversized pale pink hoodie, black jeans and a pair of low cut, pink vans. There are pastel coloured clips pressed against one side of his dark hair and his wrists are covered in multiple girly bracelets. His cheeks are dusted in freckles and smudges of purple icing. 

When Klaus matches his cyan coloured gaze with the waiters gray one, his chest tightens and _burns_. The sweet, fruity smell in the air suddenly intensifies and makes something deep in Klaus's chest _ache_. His fingers twitch atop the table with the sudden need to _touch_, mouth running dry and fangs threatening to descend from his gums. The waiter turns shy under his gaze, gray eyes widening before he ducks his head, pale fingers tucking a dark lock of hair behind his ear. Klaus suddenly feels the excessive need to just reach out and take, because... _because that's his._

Rebekah blinks, eyeing both Klaus and the waiter with a calculating gaze over her menu. She flickers her gaze between the two males; watches the way the waiter blushes under Klaus's intense gaze and the way Klaus drinks up the image of the waiter like a starving man finding solace in the desert. She sees the flash of fangs and clears her throat loudly to catch both their attentions.

"Aren't you going to take their order?" Rebekah asks, lowering her menu down to the table and nodding towards the girls sat on the far end. She doesn't care about them. Not really. But she's... weirdly interested in this waiter and the effect he has on Klaus.

"Oh, um," the waiter fumbles, turning his whole body towards Rebekah, purposefully trying not to look at Klaus. "If I wanted to star in a mean girls movie, I would have stayed inside my mother's womb," he answers her question with a shake of his head, like he's trying to clear his thoughts. 

"Anyways, my name is Zero." He says, raising his head and tapping the silver badge he has pinned to the corner of his dark green apron. "And I'll be your waiter today because my mother drank. What can I get you?"

Klaus is still staring at Zero, bluish green eyes trailing over his shoulders and slowly lowering themselves until they stop at the waiters ass. He runs a tongue over his bottom lip almost hungrily and Rebekah kicks him under the table. _Harshly_.

Klaus lets out a warning growl, gaze flickering towards Rebekah in a glare and Zero noticeably stiffens, grey eyes closing as he hunches in on himself shyly.

_"Oh?"_ Rebekah muses, lips curling into a predatory smirk. Now she's _really_ interested. "I'll have the cheesecake." She grins, leaning across the table. "Oh, and coffee - black, just like my soul," she adds as an afterthought. 

Zero exhales quietly and flutters his eyes open. "Okay," he mumbles, scribbling her order down onto his notepad with his purple glitter pen. He then hesitates, teeth nibbling on his bottom lip in thought. "And you?" He asks softly, turning back around to face Klaus. He tucks another lock of his fluffy, black hair behind his ear, the girly bracelets around his thin wrist shining from reflecting light.

Klaus looks completely enthralled - bluish green eyes hooded and hands balled into tight fists over the table. "Just... water," he manages to say. He tries to catch Zero's gaze but the male avoids eye contact.

"Well that's exciting," Zero says, the softness in his voice switching to sarcasm. "It comes with a lemon, you sure you can handle that?" 

Rebekah startles herself into a cackle, Klaus blinks slow and deliberate, likely just as caught off guard as she is. 

Zero's eyes then widen with something akin to panic, freckled cheeks turning red as he ducks his head. "Sorry!" He hurries to apologise. "Sarcasm is my default defence mechanism." The waiter then fumbles his notepad and pen into his apron before he scrambles towards the counter at the front.

Klaus's stares after the male right until he escapes into the kitchen. He turns back to Rebekah, only to see his sisters blue eyes shining with mirth. "Klaus," she says, lips stretched into a wide grin, "_your_ gay is showing." 

Klaus kicks her back under the table. 

_Twice_ as harshly.

983 words//unedited 


	2. Chapter 2

_yall i literally wrote this in the hospital, high off my meds//._

**Chapter two:**

The next few days are… weird for Klaus. 

He tries to not think about Zero. About pretty grey eyes and fluffy black hair. About freckled cheeks and a soft voice accompanied by biting words. He avoids going back to the diner.

It’s hard.

Especially when Rebekah somehow always manages to mumble something about him in her annoyingly sly voice.

“Don’t you think this would look cute on Zero?” She asks almost innocently one day. She shoves something into his hands and Klaus scowls. It’s a heart shaped choker. It’s a dusty shade of pink and Klaus tries not to imagine it around Zero’s pale neck and how good he would look in it. He eyes it for a few seconds too long and then angrily shoves the choker back onto the stand. 

“Zero seems like the type,” Rebekah muses a few hours later, smiling as she holds out a teddy bear towards Klaus. Scowling, Klaus tries not to imagine Zero cuddling up to a stuffie and fails miserably.

“Imagine him sitting in your lap,” Rebekah says around a mouthful of crisps the very next day, blue eyes glued to the TV in front of her. Klaus tries not to imagine Zero sparawled in his lap, grey eyes looking up at him innocently and-

Klaus smacks the crisp packet straight out of Rebekah’s hands.

Because she hadn’t even said Zero’s name and Klaus’s mind had gone straight to him.

There was _something_ terribly wrong with him. And Klaus just knew it.

It’s gets worse the longer he stays away from the diner. His chest starts to randomly ache throughout the day, his fingers always twitch and there’s this dull, _burning_ ache around his dead heart. Almost like it’s trying to come back alive. Klaus doesn’t like it.

At all.

And then, on the fourth day of of trying to ignore everything Zero related, Klaus’s non existent feelings for the black haired male get _crushed_.

The mist is heavy over Mystic Falls and the wind is cold and biting. He shuffles his way down one of the main roads, hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket and cyan coloured eyes lazily taking in his surroundings. The streets around the Mystic Grill are busy. Rebekah walks beside him, humming some new hit song underneath her breath and cutting herself off every few seconds to mumble curse words at those who bump into her.

“Hey,” Rebekah wraps her slim fingers around Klaus’s elbow to stop him from walking, “isn’t that Zero?” She asks, quirking up a brow and nodding her head towards the direction in front of her. 

Klaus instantly follows her gaze.

He sees Zero. 

And Zero sees him.

There’s a moment of utter silence in Klaus’s mind, where eveything but Zero is fuzzy - a weird sort of blur. The burning ache in his chest isn’t there, but the sudden feeling of wanting to _touch_ and _claim_ and make _his_ is. 

And then it’s broken.

Zero’s grey eyes widen, panic flashing across his face as he pulls his hood over his head and shoves his hands deep into the pockets of his black hoodie. Klaus catches the words_ “not today, satan”_ tumbling out of his lips before the male darts across to the other side of the street and ducks into an alley way.

It’s as good as getting rejected. 

The intense burning sensation around his heart tells him so.

Later he sprawls himself across his bed, turns on his side and presses his face into Rebekah’s waist. He wraps his arms around her and sighs deeply. Rebekah snorts, petting his hair like one would pet a dogs fur. She’s using his room to watch one of her beloved sitcoms, Kol is using the main one downstairs and she had broken hers during her tousle with Finn. 

Elijah had caught them on the floor with Rebekah’s arms wrapped tightly around Finn’s throat - Finn had been trying to crawl away from the female, one hand outstretched dramatically and apologies flying out of his mouth. 

“_I didn’t mean to-“_

_“You broke my favourite bottle of foundation-“_

_“Enough you two, get off the floor, Rebekah stop that,” _Elijah had cut them both of rather smoothly.

Grumbling, Klaus presses his nose further into Rebekah’s side and inhales deeply. She smells like makeup and overpriced perfume, but also oddly like blueberries. Frowning, Klaus inhales her scent once more.

He hadn’t noticed that ever before. 

“You know,” Rebekah starts as she pulls her hand away from his hair, “I’ve never really seen you as the moping type.”

“I’m not moping.” Klaus muffles into her waist defensively.

“Oh really?” Rebekah mocks. “Who was it that ate all my breakup ice cream again? It was expensive, Nik.”

“I’ll buy some more,” Klaus grumbles.

“For me or for yourself?” Rebekah mutters lowly, lips dipping into a frown.

Klaus doesn’t answer her. Instead, “shut up,” her tells her after a moment of him being too quiet. He then nudges her hand towards his sandy blonde hair and grumbles out a quiet, “pet me.” 

Rebekah indulges him, but only after she lists off all the brands of ice cream that she can think of. 

875 words//unedited


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: **

It’s around five in the morning, the sun is steadily rising over Mystic Falls and the streets are empty save for the odd early risers. The Mystic Grill isn’t yet open and neither are any of the other places, but Klaus isn’t here for any of those. 

The bell above the glass door chimes as soon as Klaus steps inside the diner. He’s greeted with the sweet smell of something fruity and the sight of Zero covered in pink icing behind the counter. It’s smudged across his cheeks, over the bridge of his nose and even on his left eyebrow. There’s a three story cake sat atop the counter to the side of him. Klaus feels the corners of his lips curl into a barely there smile, even when his chest starts _ burning _ with a yearning that he can’t quite quench _ yet._

His fingers twitch beside his thighs and Klaus does quick work of shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his jacket as he walks towards the counter. He stops right in front of it and watches the way Zero scrunches up his nose cutely, the tip of his tongue peeking out from the corner of his pink lips as he works on making tiny, intricate flowers around the edges of the three story cake with a piping bag. A confused expression flickers across his face, nose twitching and mouth turning into a pout. 

Klaus drinks the expression up like a recovering alcoholic working in a brewery. The words,_ “hello, love,” _tumble out of his mouth smoothly, voice gravelly and low sounding even to his own ears. 

Zero stills under his gaze. His grey eyes widen, mouth parting ever so slightly and heart stuttering behind his ribcage. He slowly turns to face Klaus, fingers curling tightly around the piping bag in his hands. The pink icing squeezes out from the other end and falls onto the counter with a wet_ ‘squelch.’ _

Klaus stares at it with a raised brow.

Ok.

Good.

Great.

_ Fantastic._

Klaus _ totally _ knows how to deal with _ this _.

He raises his gaze back up to Zero. The black haired male looks like a deer caught in the headlights. And because this interaction wasn’t weird already, Zero places the piping bag down onto the counter and slowly and awkwardly lowers himself until he’s hidden behind said counter.

Klaus successfully refrains from hitting his head against the nearest flat surface.

This was supposed to be _ easy._

Rebekah has said so. 

‘_Go to the diner by yourself_,’ she had said. _ ‘What could possibly go wrong?’ _she had said. 

Well, she clearly hadn’t thought it through _ fully._

“Ok,” Klaus says quietly, nodding his head. Because what else can he say? Should he turn and leave? Should he change his name? Move to Russia? Hide in the forest and live in a cottage? He has a lot of options currently at hand.

And he’s _ confused._

Luckily enough, the door to the kitchen swings open and a female walks out to stand behind the counter. Her dark brown eyes take one look at Klaus and then lower themselves to the floor to where no doubt Zero is sat. Her lips then twist into a playful grin, quiet snickers escaping her mouth. 

Klaus quickly eyes her over. She has long plum coloured hair, her skin is awfully pale and oddly enough, she doesn’t have a heartbeat. She shuffles towards the counter, brown eyes shining with mirth. “Hey,” she greets him, “don’t mind the kid. He has low self-esteem.”

“Wrong,” Klaus hears Zero sniffle quietly, “I have _ no _ self esteem.” 

“Anyways,” the female smiles, “I’m Sherry and I own this place. What can I help you with?”

Klaus blinks, slowly and deliberately. He supposes she _ could _ help him with one thing...

“Actually,” he says, leaning against the counter and placing his palms flat against it. He matches his cyan coloured gaze with her dark brown one, “I have an issue with one of your employees.”

“Oh?” Sherry muses, smile turning into a large grin. “Which one?” She humours him.

Klaus makes a low humming sound and ducks his head. “He’s cute,” he says, voice something between a whisper and a murmur, “he’s a bit of a brat though, has a sharp tongue.”

“And?” Sherry asks, tone similar to his own as she tucks a strand of her plum coloured hair behind a pierced ear. 

Klaus raises his head only too see Sherry’s grin turn into something much more softer, more… _ understanding._

He opens his mouth and feels his words lodge themselves somewhere in the back of his throat. “He… has pretty grey eyes and-“

Klaus cuts himself off when his chest starts burning again.

He hears a quiet, barely there whimper and his senses go into overdrive. _ Zero _ . The world around him blurs, twists into colours he can’t quite decipher, his chest _ aches _ and his nose fills with the scent of apples and cherries, honey and chocolate.

Klaus wants to _ reach out _ and take Zero and just steal him away.

But he _ can’t._

Because that’s, well, he _ can_, but he _ can’t_.

Klaus needs to leave.

He mutters something about coming back later and then hightails it out of there.

He needs to talk to Rebekah.

875 words//unedited 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: **

“No!” Zero hisses lowly, “I can't go out there!” 

“Yes, you can,” Sherry growls back, forcefully pushing Zero. The male pushes back, pressing the palms of his hands flat against the females shoulders. “No,” he whines, “I really can’t.” 

“Just be yourself,” Sherry says, “say something nice.”

Zero lets out a hysterical laugh, “Which one? I can’t do both-”

With one last push, Sherry successful cuts Zero off and sends the black haired male tumbling through the kitchen door and into the diner. He lands flat on his ass, grey eyes wide and lips parted open as if in shock.

Several customers turn their gazes towards them in curiosity, murmurs being exchanged quietly in confusion. 

Sherry fixes her plum coloured hair and smooths down her dark green apron. Holding back a laugh, she points her index finger towards the tables and booths. “Table number four,” she orders, lips twitching and dark brown eyes shining in mirth. “Go.”

Zero makes a face but stands to his feet. “Just be yourself,” he mocks her, making his voice an octave higher. “Say something nice.” He dusts himself off, sends Sherry a narrowed eyed look and then begrudgingly makes his way towards table four.

“My name is Zero,” he introduces himself, tapping the silver name tag he has pinned to the corner of his apron. He avoids looking at the tables occupants, fearing the worst case scenario. “And I’m too wifey to be treated like some ordinary girl. What can I get you?” 

“My usual,” he hears a familiar female voice say.

Zero taps his pen against his notepad, today it’s a sparkly green one. “Chocolate covered waffles with a side of eye fucking, got it.” He says, scribbling the order down onto his notepad. “Anything else?” 

Someone snorts, “Why aren’t you looking at us?” They ask. It’s a males voice, one Zero hasn’t heard yet.

“I heard Medusa was stopping by this morning,” Zero’s mouth moves without his permission, “I’m just taking precautions.”

“You really weren’t joking about that self defence mechanism.” The female voice huffs out a laugh, like she’s amused with the whole situation. Zero isn’t. He just wants it to be over and done with as soon as possible.  _ Thank you very much. _

And the fact that a certain someone is literally trying to see through his entire soul isn’t doing him any better - Zero wants to look up, to match his grey gaze with a greeny blue one, but instead he just ducks his head lower. “Anything else?” He asks, fiddling with his green glitter pen. There’s a little charm attached to it, a pusheen mermaid cat that Sherry has gifted to him not long ago. The colours are weirdly starting to dull and Zero frowns down at it.

“Surprise us,” the female voice says. Zero imagines her shrugging her shoulders. Nodding his head, Zero scribbles it down onto his notepad. “I’ll be right back with your order,” he mutters, heading towards the counter at the front.

He does quick work of placing a random assortment of cupcakes onto a plate. They’re all differently coloured, some of them have sprinkles and others have short but sweet messages on them. One of them has  _ ‘bite me’  _ written across white frosting in red lettering. Zero is specifically proud of that one. Well, that one and the one cupcake that says _ ‘you suck’  _ with a little carrot drawn beside it. Its Zero’s most recent work of art. He’s quite proud of himself, actually.

Smiling, he sets off into the kitchen for the chocolate covered waffles. Sherry is stood over the stove humming quietly as she flips pancakes. Zero side steps her as she turns around to grab a plate. 

“You got any waffles done, boss?” Zero asks, eyeing the kitchen. “On the other side,” Sherry motions with a nod of her chin. “And don’t forget to siv some powdered sugar over it,” she reminds him.

Zero nods his head and does as he’s hold. Once he’s done he sets the plate of waffles over a tray and heads back out towards the counter. He grabs the plate of cupcakes from before and settles it onto the same tray. With a sigh, he makes his way to table four.

“Here are your orders,” Zero settles down the plates onto the table one by one. He holds the circular tray to his chest, eyes avoiding contact with everyone in his peripheral vision. He turns to leave-

“Hold on a minute. Where’s my side order of eye fucking?” 

Zero wants to die. He wants the ground to open up and swallow him whole.  _ So close _ , he thinks,  _ so close to freedom.  _ Making a show of slowly turning back around, he gives the female sat at the edge of the table a flat look. She’s pretty, with her blonde hair and her blue eyes - sort of... barbie like. “So?” She prompts, pointing a manicured finger towards the person sat opposite her with a wolfish grin.

Flickering his gaze around the table, Zero notices three new faces. They all have dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, yet they look somewhat similar to the blonde female. Zero thinks they might be related. Zero also thinks he might just be the dumbest person when he reaches for the  _ ‘bite me’  _ cupcake and gives the most bullshiting smile he can offer.

He turns to face the male he’s been avoiding eye contact with from the start. The one with the sandy blonde coloured hair and bluey-green eyes. The one that smells like honey and the forest, fresh but sweet. The ones that’s been staring at Zero almost longingly for the past ten minutes.

“Bite me,” Zero taunts, showing off the cupcake before he bites right into it.

His chest  _ burns _ and  _ aches _ when the other males cyan coloured eyes darken, tongue swiping across his bottom lip hungrily.

Zero quickly averts his eyes to the side. “There, that’s your side order of eye fucking. Have a nice day.” He then disappears off into the kitchen, heart jumping away in his chest like a rabbit running away from a predator.

  
  



	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: **

“Is that… my cardigan?” Sherry asks, squinting her dark brown eyes at Zero. She’s leaned against the counter, a book sits open in front of her but her gaze is concentrated on the only other person in the diner. Biting into a green apple, she turns the page of the book without even looking. 

“Mhhm,” Zero hums, fiddling with the sleeves of the cashmere cardigan. “It’s soft,” he murmurs, running his fingers down it. “I’ll give it back in a few days,” he says, grabbing a dark green apron and tying it around his waist.

Sherry swallows loudly, eyeing Zero with an odd look. He looks sort of... _ soft _. She lowers her gaze to pale lilac vans and tilts her head to the side in thought. There are cute, little stars pressed on each side. Sherry then flickers her gaze to messier than usual black hair, to the baggy clothes that he’s wearing and then to the circular specs he has perched over the bridge of his nose. He usually opst for his contact lenses. Sherry spots dark semi-circles under Zero’s grey eyes and purses her lips. “Huh,” She breathes out after a moment of too long silence. 

——

The bell above the door chimes as soon as Klaus steps into the diner. It’s empty, save for Sherry and Zero. The plum haired female is sat behind the counter, head ducked and eyes glued to a book. Zero, on the other hand, slowly turns his gaze towards Klaus and tilts his head to the side almost like a puppy.

Kluas rubs the underside of his nose when he gets attacked with the scent of something fruity. His chest immediately starts aching and he furrows his brows as he rubs a hand over the middle of his chest. He wishes it wouldn’t burn so much.

Zero slowly starts walking towards him, steps hesitant and grey eyes sort of hazy behind his circular spectacles. Klaus stares at him dumbly, slightly caught off guard. He flickers his gaze to Sherry, but the female simply wiggles her fingers at him in a mocking wave and then settles her chin into the palm of her hand, content on just watching the scene unfold. 

Klaus feels the world around him blur when he returns his gaze to Zero. The need to _ mark _ and _ claim, _to simply make _ his _ is strong, it wraps around his being and makes his fingers twitch beside his thighs. The feeling runs deep somewhere in his veins and it makes his chest _ ache _ even more. 

Zero stops in front of him and Klaus stills. He doesn’t even move when Zero curls his fingers around the edge of his dark henley and then cutely tugs on it, like he’s promoting him to lower his head. Klaus swallows audibly. 

_ This, _Klaus thinks, _ is what’s finally going to kill him. _

Zero then proceeds to get onto the tips of his toes and nuzzles his face against Klaus’s chest, nose pressing into his collar bones for an odd second or too and fluffy black hair ticking Klaus’s jaw. The fruity scent in the air intensifies and takes over Klaus’s own senses, he’s settling his hands onto Zero’s small waist before he even knows it, eyelids lowering and nose pressing into fluffy black hair. The moment he touches Zero, the younger male _ purrs._

Loudly and abruptly.

It weirdly soothes the ache in Klaus’s chest, chases away the burning feeling that settles around his heart. Klaus inhales deeply. Zero smells sweet. Like apples and cherries, honey and chocolate. 

“_Ahem_,” Sherry coughs, interrupting their little moment. She flips a page in her book, lips forming a smile. “Shouldn’t you be asking for his name before you get all cuddly up to him, Zero?” She questions in a teasing zone, tucking a strand of her plum coloured hair behind a pierced ear.

Zero abruptly moves away from Klaus with a loud yelp, grey eyes wide and no longer hazy, face flashing in panic. He takes several steps back, opens his mouth to say something and then shuts it closed with an audible click. Like a deer caught in the headlights. 

Klaus stares down at his empty hands with a frown. _ So much for that, _ he thinks. He shoves them into the pockets of his jacket and then raises his cyan coloured gaze to match Zero’s grey one. 

“I can… explain,” Zero says, twisting his fingers around each other uncomfortably. “I mean, actually I can’t. But,” he pauses, running both his hands through his black hair. “No,” he says, shaking his head, “I really can’t.” 

“Explain what?” Klaus asks, swiping his tongue over his bottom lip. 

“Can’t we both just leave and pretend this never happened?” Zero asks, completely ignoring Klaus’s question with a hopeful look on his face. 

Sherry snorts form where she’s sat at the counter. Zero sends her a narrow eyed look and she ducks her head, returning her gaze to her book with a quiet, “_ Alright, alright.” _

Klaus debates over his options internally. He shrugs his shoulders before he extends a hand. “My name is Klaus,” he introduces himself, the corners of his lips lifting into his usual crooked smirk. “Klaus Mikaelson.”

Zero stares at Klaus’s hand with a worried expression, teeth biting into his lower lip. He flickers his gaze up to bluey-green eyes and then hesitantly shakes Klaus’s hand with his own. “Zero,” he mutters lowly, “it’s nice to meet you.” His voice sounds unsure.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Klaus murmurs, bringing Zero’s hand up to his mouth. He grazes his lips against the other males knuckles, smirking when Zero let’s out another soft purr. He then watches the way Zero flushes under his gaze, cheeks turning into a pretty shade of red.

_965 words//unedited._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**:

“So he magically charmed you?” Elijah questions, one brow quirked and tone amused. He settles a napkin across his lap nonchalantly. 

“He _ didn’t _ magically charm me,” Klaus denies, feeling his lips settle into a deep scowl. 

“Oh, so he just regularly charmed you then, did he?” Kol drawls in a bored tone. He stabs his fork into a piece of steak, bringing the meat up to his lips and swallowing loudly around it. There’s blood splattered across his white button up shirt and the side of his neck — beside his feet on the floor lays an unconscious body, neck twisted at an odd angle and eyes open wide in shock.

Rebekah scrunches up her nose in distaste and Finn sighs tiredly. “What have we told you about bringing extra… _meals_ to the table?” He asks, his lips turning down into a disappointed frown. 

“That I shouldn’t do it in front of you?” Kol quips, shrugging his shoulders. “Besides,” he says, “if Klaus can wax poetry about that human boy, then I can bring dead bodies to the table.” 

“I _do not_ wax poetry about him,” Klaus stresses through his teeth.

“Uh,” Rebekah makes a face. “Yes,” she says. “_Yes, you do—”_

Kol holds his hands to his chest, “_Oh Zero and his beautiful blue eyes—”_

“They’re grey,” Finn cuts in with an utter, tone exasperated. 

“And humans _don’t_ purr,” Klaus adds, sending Kol a dirty look. 

Kol rolls his dark brown eyes in return. “And cats do. What’s your point?” 

There’s a beat of silence, where the rest of the Mikaelsons stare at Kol with the same deadpan gaze. And then it clicks for the youngest, his eyes widen as he lets out a quiet, “_Oh_.” 

He turns his line of sight towards Klaus. “Zero is the one purring,” he breathes out, like he’s amazed at the piece of information.

Klaus rubs a hand down his face, clearly done with Kol.

Elijah does good work of covering up his laugh behind a cough.

——

“Look!” Zero exclaims, shoving a piece of paper into Sherry’s face. “Looooook!” 

Sherry bats the offending piece of paper away from her pale face. “Stop — how am I supposed to look if you keep shoving it into my face? — Zero!” 

“It’s my third husband,” Zero says as he pulls the paper away from Sherry with a grin. “It’s Yusuke Urameshi. Look at him Sherry, he’s perfect.”

Sherry stares at the printed out animated character on the paper with a flat look. “It’s an animated character,” she says, tone disappointed.

“Your third husband?” Klaus asks from where he’s sat at a neighboring table. He glares at the piece of paper held up by Zero almost like he’s trying to will it to catch ablaze. 

“Why isn’t anyone asking why it’s his _third husband_?” Rebekah raises an eyebrow, sipping at her coffee. 

“Right,” Kol nods his head, “what happened to the first two?”

“I don’t know,” Zero says, staring off into the distance. He slowly turns his gaze until it matches Klaus’s own. “But they both deceased.” 

“I would know,” Sherry pulls her notepad and pen from out of the front pocket of her green apron, “since I had to bury them.” She turns with a flourish, muttering something about needy customers and walks to another booth. 

“Okay — did she just admit to murdering two people?” Kol waves a hand in the air with an awkward movement.

Zero avoids eye contact and shrugs, he pockets his paper into the front pocket of his own dark green apron and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “Don’t take her seriously,” he smiles. “Anyways, is there anything else you’d like to order today?” 

Klaus opens his mouth to answer, to say that he wants Zero to sit in his lap so he can hold him or perhaps even to ask if he can have the picture of that animated character so he can burn it, but alas he gets interrupted by the diners doors flying open.

“Out of my way _peasants_!” A female voice dramatically exclaims. “Your _queen_ is walking through.” 

_“Oh, brother_.” Zero breathes out. He tries to look annoyed but the corners of his lips are twitching as if he’s keeping himself from grinning. 

Klaus turns his line of sight towards the doors. There’s a female stood there with long, pretty black hair. It flawlessly falls over her shoulders and down her back. A fringe runs straight just above her eyebrows and across her forehead. She’s dressed in high end clothes; a large and faux, black fur coat, some sort of asymmetrical black and white skirt, a loopy earring dangles from each ear and a pair of black sunglasses are perched upon her nose. She walks straight towards table four, the heels of her boots clicking against the floor and the multiple bags in each hand swaying as she does so.

“Zero!” She grins, showing off her pearly whites. She shoo’s someone out from their seat at table six, the table opposite number four and sits down with all her bags around her. “I’d hug you, but I still smell like three out of your twenty uncles.” 

“I don’t have twenty uncles,” Zero mutters. He scrunches up his nose, turning around as he quickly counts across his fingers. “Do I?” He asks himself, making a face.

“Attention back to me, _please_.” The newcomer snaps her fingers twice and suddenly the diner is empty of any human beings. Kol turns his head this way and that way and then whistles lowly. “Alright, that’s sort of impressive.”

“Oh my god, _Sai_.” Zero’s grey eyes widen with panic, he opens his mouth to say something else but then clicks it closed with an audible sound. He runs a hand through his messy black hair, teeth biting into his bottom lip as he stares at the Mikaelsons.

“I know, I know. I’m _awesome_.” The female — Sai, as Zero has called her — crosses one leg over the other. “Now,” She starts, “where’s my wife?” 

“She’s right here and she’s _annoyed_.” Sherry slams her notepad onto a nearby table, posing with one hand on her hip. She narrows her dark eyes at Sai, swiping a tongue across her bottom lip. “You made all my customers disappear—”

“— All your _human_ customers,” Sai cuts in. “Everyone left here is either dead on the inside or doesn’t have a heartbeat.”

“What’s the difference?” Rebekah asks, leaning her chin into the palm of her hand. Her blonde hair falls over her shoulders and down her chest. 

“I and Zero have heartbeats, but technically we’re still dead on the inside. The rest of you? You’re all actually dead.” Sai answers with a shrug. She pushes her sunglasses further up her nose and then stands to her feet. She mocks a bow, pinching each side of her asymmetrical skirt and lifting it up. “Sai’s the name. I’m part Witch and part Ghoul, a hybrid is you will.” The female grins.

Kol raises both his eyebrows. “Ghoul?” 

Sherry sighs, long and suffering. “Ghouls are a carnivorous and cannibalistic humanoid species that are _only_ able to feed on the flesh of humans and other ghouls.” She explains. 

Sai wiggles her eyebrows. “You would know, wouldn’t you? My beautiful cannibalistic queen—”

“Step any closer and there _will_ be a divorce—”

The two females squaffle, Sherry runs around to the other side of the diner and Sai runs after her, laughing loudly. “I love you—”

“Thanks—”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait… Sherry is a Ghoul as well?” Kol questions, head tilting and eyebrows raising.

Zero pauses, mouth parting open ever so slightly. “Uuuuuuh,” he drags on, avoiding eye contact. “You could say that, I guess.” 

“You _guess_?” Rebekah drawls. 

“He _guesses_,” Klaus says in the same tone, lips curling into a smirk when Zero shoots him a glare. 

“She’s part Ghoul and…,” Zero trails off, twisting his fingers around each other. “Part… Zombie.”

“No,” Kol shakes his head, voice filled with denial, “she isn’t.”

“Yeah,” Zero nods his head, “she _is_.” 

Rebekah twists in her seat, turning around so she’s facing in the direction where Sherry is trying to pry Sai off from her being. “An actual cannibalistic queen,” Rebekah muses. “Nice,” She says with a nod of her head.

“And you?” Klaus asks, shifting so that his whole body is facing Zero’s. He matches his cyan coloured gaze with a grey one and doesn’t let it go. 

“I’m…,” Zero trails off once again, teeth biting into his bottom lip, “pretty sure Sai and Sherry are going to break the counter if I don’t stop them soon.” He lets his shoulders drop, grey eyes flickering to the two females fighting beside said counter. 

Klaus clicks his tongue when Zero quickly makes his way to the two females.

“Oh, gross. Now you both smell like three out of my twenty uncles.”

“Group hug!”

“Absolutely not! Get off!”


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**:

"I'm just saying," Sai sniffs, "I think the cookie is the best part of the Oreo."

"Wow," Zero breathes out, collecting the empty plates from table four. "I didn't know we were Zero, Sherry and _wrong_."

"Ha, ha." Sai deadpans when Rebekah laughs into her coffee. Kol easily slides into their booth, hair in disarray and grin wide. "Did I miss any good default defence mechanisms?" He asks, fluttering his eyelashes innocently.

Sherry snorts, taking the plates from Zero. "Yeah, about four of them." She gives Kol a teasing smile and then heads for the kitchen.

"Aww," Kol pouts.

It's early in the morning, the diner is empty safe for an old couple sat further in the back and the usual occupants of table four — minus Klaus, Elijah and Finn.

"What are you even doing on that?" Rebekah asks, eyeing Sai's laptop. It's covered in stickers, colourful hearts and stars, skulls and other things.

Sai pushes her sunglasses further up the bridge of her nose. She smirks, wolfish and predatory. "I'm making a compilation of all the moron like things Zero has done in his life."

"Ha," Zero deadpans. "You can't add in _every_ aspect of my life."

"Duh," Kol says, scooting over when Zero sits down beside him. The two then high five, gaze held onto Sai and expressions the same.

"Ew," Sai feigns a shiver. "And I _can_." She asserts, making a face. "I'm the brightest witch of my age, remember?"

"You can't be that powerful," Rebekah leans her chin into the palm of her hand, the corners of her lips twitching in amusement.

Making an offended noise, Sai opens her mouth; "challenge fucking accepted." She stands to her feet, shuts her laptop closed and holds it under one of her arms. "I'll see you bitches in a few days," she turns her nose up in the air dramatically and leaves the diner with a flair.

Sherry sighs, loud and suffering as she stops beside their table. She settles down two sets of plates, both filled with fries. One of them has blood poured all over them, the other plate had ketchup merely sat in the corner. It's obvious which plate is for who.

"What is that idiot up to know?" Sherry asks, stealing a bloody fry and quickly biting into it.

"My fries!" Kol whines.

"Pay better attention then," Sherry shrugs her shoulders.

——

Three days later, Sai marches into the diner, doors flying open. She catches the immediate attention of everyone. Her long, black hair is a mess and her fringe which usually runs straight across her forehead sticks out at awkward angles. Slurping down the remnants of her coffee loudly, she scrunches up the cup and throws it over her shoulder. It flies over Klaus's head as he enters behind the female and lands directly into the bin.

"My most devoted followers!" Sai exclaims, throwing her arms into the air. "It has finally been achieved, after three tiresome days I have—"

"Did I miss something important?" Klaus cuts the female off, raising a brow. He walks past her, ignoring the glare she burns into the back of his skull.

"Not really," Sherry says, drying her hands with paper towels behind the counter. Kol is sat on top of it, swinging his legs to and fro as he munches down on a burger. It's the middle of the night, the diner is officially closed and yet...

"I put up the closed sign for a reason," Sherry mutters, shaking her head. "Don't any of you have anything better to do?"

"Not really," Finn says, tone mocking Sherry's. He smirks at the female from where he's sat at the booth closest to the counter.

Sherry throws a nearby rag at him and it starts a scuffle. It's a three way battle between Kol, Finn and Sherry — the three argue between each other, Sherry shoves Kol off the counter and Kol gasps loudly.

"You whore!"

"Says the _actual_ whore."

"Ha!" Finn barks a laugh.

"Rebekah," Sai whines, falling into the seat beside the female. "Why isn't everyone paying attention to me? I'm fabulous." She leans right into Rebekah, fake crying into her shoulder. "Of course you are," Rebekah assures as she pats Sai on the shoulder.

Elijah merely sips at his tea from across the two, gaze slowly wandering around the diner. Noticing the absence of both Klaus and Zero, he strains his ears and hears the two talking to each other in the kitchen. Elijah hides a smile behind his cup of tea, the others haven't seemed to notice yet.

——

Zero fiddles with the bouquet of flowers that he had received yesterday, back faced towards Klaus. He's on the opposite side of the kitchen, fingers idly working through the expensive bow wrapped around numerous flowers. There's three bouquets, one for each day that Klaus hadn't visited Zero. They're all placed inside vases, perched upon the counter far away from the stoves.

"Do you like them?" Klaus asks. He's leaned against the wall, head tilted ever so slightly as he gazes at Zero. The younger male is dressed in a white knitted sweater, it hangs lowly from his shoulders and falls just above his thighs. Klaus swipes a tongue over his lips hungrily, his chest aching suddenly.

"Mhhm," Zero hums, nodding his head. His fingers get tangled up in the smooth texture of the bow and he furrows his brows. "Would have been better if you gave me them yourself," he mutters lowly.

"Oh?" Klaus muses, tearing his gaze away from Zero's rear. Instead he stares at the back of the other males head. His black hair is tousled, curling this way and that way. There aren't any colourful clips pressed there today. Klaus wants to thread his fingers through Zero's soft hair, pull his head back and bury his fangs into the soft flesh of his neck, he wants to claim and mark, to make him—

"Sorry," Zero hurries to add. He untangles his fingers from the bow. "They're pretty," he says quietly. He turns around only to suddenly come face to chest with Klaus. He blinks, slow and purposeful. The scent of woods after rainfall and something dark is heavy in the air now, it forces out a quiet purr that has Zero leaning forward and nuzzling his face against Klaus's chest.

Swallowing harshly, Klaus wraps his arms around Zero's waist and burries his nose into dark hair. He breathes in the scent of something fruity, the ache in his chest slowly easing out when Zero's purr reverberates through him.

_This is a weakness, _Klaus hisses at himself internally. _A weakness you can't afford._ His chest burns back at him, like it's telling him otherwise.

Klaus growls lowly when Zero slowly leans away, cheeks flushed in a pretty shade of red and grey eyes hazy. He tilts his head backwards, exposing the pale length of his neck. "No biting," he murmurs, voice a breath away from a whisper. His fingers curl around the material of Klaus's jacket, eyes fluttering closed in an ounce of trust. He's letting Klaus scent him—

This, Klaus thinks, is what's finally going to get him killed.

He lowers his head and burries his face into the crook of Zero's neck, lips barely brushing against the skin there. Klaus curls his fingers around the males hips, tightening his hold until he's sure there will be bruises left in his wake. He hears the sound of Zero's breath hitching, feels the way the younger male tilts his head a little more like he's trying to get even closer to Klaus.

Klaus softly kisses Zero's neck, humming when the body underneath his releases a content, little sigh. He parts his lips, reminds himself that he's not allowed to actually bite, and instead presses his tongue into the nape of Zero's neck and sucks. When Zero mewls, loud and soft and abrupt it makes the edges of Klaus's lips curl into a smirk.

After all, Zero never said anything about leaving a hickey.

1338 words//unedited.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight:**

"Thanks for telling me I'm a great waiter, then leaving me a shitty tip. I pay all my bills with compliments!" Zero exclaims, waving his hand in a mocking goodbye to one of the customers. They leave without even turning back and Zero sort of wishes he could drag them back inside and strangle the shit out of them. What was the point of people telling him he was the best waiter and then giving him the shittiest tip? Zero shakes his head to clear his thoughts. He was using the word shit too much today.

He moves onto the next table and plasters on the biggest, most fakest smile he can muster. "My name is Zero and I'll be your waiter today." He holds a pink glitter pen over his notepad, it has a little star charm attached to it. It was another one of Sherry's gifts to him. "Your orders?" He asks in a bland voice that only the most _experienced_ waiters can pull off.

The brown haired female sat at the table frowns, furrowing her slim dark brows. She stares up at Zero with her wide, doe like eyes. "Waffles and um, a latte," she says, batting her eyelashes.

"Mhhm," Zero hums, scribbling her order down. "And your friend?"

The other female at the table gives a small, pained smile. She's pretty, with her blonde hair and pale complexion and green eyes. "A slice of fudge cake," she says quietly, staring past Zero with one of the saddest expressions he's seen to date. She doesn't even look at him.

"I'll be right back with your orders," Zero says, tone mildly confused because the only one sat in the vicinity of the girls gaze is Klaus... and his siblings. Zero walks to the counter at the front, his stomach awkwardly twisting. Sai is stood behind the counter, chewing on the end of her pen as she flips through several thick booklets. She scrunches up her nose, her sunglasses lowering themselves down. Sai hurries to push them back up the bridge of her nose.

Tearing the order from his notepad, Zero places it onto the counter for Sai to give to Sherry in the kitchen. He then picks up the tray filled with food at the side and makes his way towards table four.

Holding back a smile, he settles down plates filled with pancakes and muffins, mugs filled with coffee or tea and then a large parfait that he drops in front of Kol.

"Thank you," Kol says, tone earnest as he wipes away a fake tear. "She's beautiful," he murmurs, staring at the parfait with lovey-dovey eyes.

"Keep your hormones in check," Rebekah makes a face as she stabs her fork menacingly into her stack of pancakes. There's obvious tension in her shoulders.

"You're just jealous," Kol snides, turning his nose up into the air.

"Could your ego get any bigger?" Finn mutters, cradling his hands around a mug of tea. He blows against the red surface and then brings it up to his lips to take a sip.

Klaus snorts and turns the sound into a cough when Kol shoots him a dirty look.

It makes Elijah hide a smile behind his coffee.

"Wow," Zero shakes his head, holding the circular tray to his chest. "We really need to work on your confidence levels, Kol. They're _so_ low. And you have so much to offer. Really, _so_ much."

"Right," Sherry says from behind him. She throws an arm around Zero's shoulder and pulls him closer into herself, taking the tray away from him, "just believe in yourself," she smirks tauntingly. "Because no one ever will."

It makes the occupants of table four laugh, minus Kol who sticks his tongue out childishly.

It starts a loud argument between him and Sherry, Finn throws a few jibes and Rebekah does too. Elijah mutters something that sends Rebekah into a fit of laughter.

And when Zero's gaze matches Klaus's, the weird feeling in his stomach from earlier disappears instantly. It's replaced with a fuzzy warmth that makes his cheeks flush over. His hand flies to his neck where a dark hickey lays — courtesy of Klaus — and he ducks his head, suddenly feeling shy.

Said male gives him a crooked smirk, raising a single brow as if to say 'it's still there?'

Irritation has never sparked so fast in Zero's life. He untangles himself from Sherry and slams his palm into Klaus's forehead with a serious expression.

Klaus blinks, slow and purposeful, sort like he's been caught off guard. He licks his lips and narrows his bluey-green eyes.Zero darts away with a wide grin, running around tables and past the counter with a laugh, Sai raises her head with confusion when he runs past her, he's just about to escape into the kitchen when arms wrap around his waist from behind and lift him from the ground.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Zero hurries his words between his laughter. "You just looked so proud—" He lets out a squeal when Klaus presses his nose into the crook of his neck and laughs, deep and rich. He settles him down and murmurs a quiet, "why run if you know you can't escape?" into his hair.

It sends a shiver running down Zero's spine and he tries not to react, but a little whine escapes his lips. It makes Klaus tighten his grip around his waist and smirk against the side of his head, like he's pleased with himself.

Zero wants to hit him again.

——-

Later, when all the customers have left and Zero is left to close the dinner by himself — well, not exactly by himself, Sai is trying to get into Sherry's pants somewhere behind him — he feels someone staring at him from afar.

He frowns and looks around, the skin on the back of his neck is prickling.

"Those pants are nice," Sai says, in an obviously seductive voice.

"Thanks," Sherry smiles, holding a handful of files to her chest, "they were fifty percent off."

Humming, Sai slowly looks Sherry up and down. "Well I'd like to see them a hundred percent off."

"Why would someone sell them for free?" Sherry asks, confusion flickering across her pale features. The piercings on her ear glitter when she pushes a lock of plum coloured hair behind said ear. "That's just stupid," she shakes her head and walks off.

Sai turns to gives Zero a sour look. "Why?" She cries, "Why is she _so_ clever and yet so fucking dense?"

Zero shrugs his shoulders and smiles when Sai gives a loud sigh and runs after Sherry with a determined face.

Double checking all the dinner locks, Zero finds that they're all locked and secured, except for the main one that snaps open at his touch. He hums a quiet tune to himself, fiddling with the main lock until it's secured as well. Zero's ears perk up when he hears the sound of footsteps, he doesn't turn until he hears them stop a few steps away from him.

He blinks. 

It's the blonde female from earlier today. The one that had given a pained smile and avoided looking him into the eyes.

Clearing his throat, Zero opens his mouth, "Is something wrong?"

The female stares at him for a long, hard minute.

So Zero stares back.

Her hands are shoved deep into the pockets of her jacket and her face is buried into her lilac scarf. She's dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a sweater he can't quite see because only a part of it peeks out from underneath her coat.

She blinks at him, green eyes filled with something akin to longing. Her expression is miserable.

"He..," She starts off, voice clearly hesitant. The blonde haired female closes her mouth and debates over her words internally.

Zero patiently waits for her to get her shit together.

When she does find her words, they are barely but a whisper, so quiet Zero wouldn't have heard them if he was entirely human; "_He looks at you the way he used to look at me."_

**1356 words//unedited.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all so much for the support! comments keep me going ;)


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine:**

_When she does find her words, they are barely but a whisper, so quiet Zero wouldn't have heard them if he was entirely human; "He looks at you the same way he used to look at me."_

Those words echo inside Zero's head like a warning siren. A mantra that reverberates through him. His skin prickles, unfathomable heat sizzling across his body. Stomach twisting uncomfortably, Zero's swallows dryly. His throat and mouth suddenly feel too dry. There's a weird feeling coursing through him, like he's in the moment but is entirely somewhere else at the same time. Zero's going to be sick. He can feel it.

"That's..." Zero lets out something between a laugh and a strangled choke. His eyes are stinging. God. Is he crying? He fucking hopes not. He stares past the blonde female, over her shoulders and into the street. "Good for you," Zero says, forcing the tone of his voice to be flat and levelled. His chest tightens uncomfortably and burns harshly. _It's never you,_ a voice whispers in the back of his head mockingly, _it's always someone else._

Zero sucks in a sharp breath. A shiver racks itself up his spine, his fingers go numb as cold sweat settles on the back of his neck. Suddenly it's too cold. He's too cold. It's like ice is steadily wrapping itself across his chest and spreading to every crevice of his body.

"You'll be miserable because of him," the female insists. Her green eyes look watery from where Zero is standing. _How can she, _how can she look at Zero like _that_? How can she say that when she's the one who's making Zero feel _miserable_ right now? Anger and frustration sparks within Zero and makes him clench his hands into tight fists.

Something cracks underneath Zero's shoes, shoots out across the black ground and covers it in a thick layer of glistening ice. It rises from the ground, icicles forming in shapes bigger than dragon teeth as they reach the girl on the other side.

"Stop!" Zero yells, just as the icicles encircle the female, pointing their sharp edges at her vitals. "Come back," he pleads, voice tethering over the edge of hysteria. _She knows_, the voice hisses at Zero, _Monster, Monster, Monster—_

The ice slowly backs away, blending back into the ground like it hadn't been there in the first place at all. Like it hadn't just sprouted ice out of nowhere, changed its shape and tried to attack someone.

_Monster. She knows. Kill her. Kill her. Kill—_

Zero runs away from the scene like his life depends on it. He ignores the scrambled yell of, "Wait!" that hollers after him. He needs to hide. He needs to get his emotions under control. He needs to stop feelings like the ground has disappeared from beneath his feet. Like he's dropping several meters down, down, down into a dark abyss.

Like he's stuck in a realm covered in sand, never to be rescued from his hollowness.

——

Klaus eyes the rickety, brown door. It's Zero's. He knows, because Sherry had sent him along with directions and a tired smile. Most of the door's colour is chipped off, showing the light wood underneath it. Klaus raises his fist to knock, but the door suddenly cracks open.

He barely gets a chance to see the person on the other side, but he does hear a clear and slightly raspy voice; "I know, I know. You want me to find Jesus. I already found him, thanks." And then the door is slammed closed right back in Klaus's face.

He blinks. Once. Twice. And thrice for good measure.

Was that Zero? Because there's the obvious scent of fruit in the air but... it's sort of... _sour_. Klaus scrunches up his nose and runs his hand underneath it. Frowning, this time Klaus actually knocks on the door.

For a moment, there's nothing. Klaus can hear Zero's heart beating, fast and unsteady. Fluttering. Shifting, Klaus knocks again, this time with a little more force.

"Go away." Zero muffles from the other side of the door.

"Sherry sent me," Klaus says, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jacket. He exhales out deeply and watches his breath swirl in front of his face like smoke. It's exceptionally cold today. "She wants to know why you won't answer her messages back." He adds, turning sideways as he takes in his surroundings. It's just like any old street in Mystic Falls, filled with barely standing houses and graying front porches. Tilting his head higher, Klaus eyes the icicles that are hanging from the rusty rooftop. Zero's house is the only one that has them.

"You haven't been out in the past week," Klaus returns his gaze to the brown door. He takes a particular interest of joining up the parts that are light wooded, painting a picture inside his mind. He gets an awkward tree, like when one has been struck by lightning. Sleeping closer to the door, Klaus presses his forehead against the cool wood. "I'm worried," he murmurs. "Let me in.” 

Klaus hears a shaky intake of breath and then a quiet, almost whimpery, "Go away.” 

It makes his chest burn. It hurts. It actually hurts. Klaus places his hands flat against the door, "_please_," he pleads. Klaus _never_ pleads. The word alone sounds foreign to his tongue. He needs the pain to stop. He needs to make sure Zero is okay. He needs to—

"Go away," Zero whispers.

Klaus curls his hands into fists against the door, his nails catching against the wood and chipping it even more. _Rejection_, he thinks. _Utter rejection. _

The burn in his chest intensifies, curling around his dead heart like a vice grip. Something fiery, like hot, burning liquid travels through his veins. _No, no, no, no_, he needs to see Zero. 

"No," Klaus shakes his head, "not until you open the door and let me in.” 

There's nothing but a bitter laugh from Zero. 

It's the only answer he gets.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten:**

"Are you still sulking?" Sherry asks, standing in front of Zero's sorry excuse for a front door. It's early in the morning and the wind is howling. Surprisingly, unlike the last three times that she had shown up, Klaus isn't sat against the door, looking like a kicked puppy.

There's a shuffling sound from the other side of the door. "I'm _not_ sulking," Zero sniffs. _Finally_, Sherry muses internally, _he speaks._

The female snorts. "Whatever," She says. "Let me in, your Prince Charming isn't anywhere in sight. He won't know."

Zero scoffs. Then, "Are you sure?" He asks, voice small and hesitant. Sherry can hear how he settles his hand across the door handle. She imagines him biting his lips and furrowing his brows. "Yeah," Sherry smiles fondly, "it's just me."

"Okay," Zero breathes out. There's the sound of the lock clicking open and then the door handle turning. The door opens partially enough for Sherry to squeeze her way in. She shuts the door closed with the back of her boots, gaze settling onto Zero who has a thick, woollen blanket thrown over his head and shoulders. He's holding the edges towards his chest, covered up fully like he's protecting himself from something unknown in the hallway. He's stood in a way where only his left side is facing Sherry. For a split second, Sherry wonders why, but then she notices Zero's white hair. There are locks of his messy hair sticking out from underneath his blanket. Except, they're not black like they usually are. They're white. Stark white. Paper white. Snow White.

Sherry's mouth falls open.

"Y-your hair," She stutters out, voice bewildered. "It's _white_."

"Yes, I know," Zero curls his lips into a scowl, turning his head fully towards Sherry to shoot her a glare, "thanks for pointing out the obvious."

Closing her mouth shut with an audible click, Sherry can only stare at Zero's right eye. Unlike his left one, which is still grey and somewhat puffy, as if he'd been crying, his right eye is... different. His pupil is gold, bright and brilliant. The rest of his eye is black, not a speck of white to be seen.

Swallowing, Sherry forces herself to talk. "Should... should I get you food? You know, not the human stuff. _Other stuff."_

Because if he needed it, Sherry would get it. Anything for Zero. He was the reason she was alive after all. He was the reason she was saved. He was the reason she had survived the war.

Zero scrunches up his nose in distaste. "No."

"Okay." Sherry nods. She fiddles with the strings attached to her jacket. "So," the female lowers her gaze to her scuffed up boots, "you want to destroy everything in your path and kill all of humanity?"

Zero levels her with a deadpan look.

He doesn't say anything, just leaves to go into the living room.

Sherry hurries after him with a grin, asking him if he'd either like to be called Master or Prince — he was both, after all. She gets hit over the head, but it's worth it because Zero finally smiles. It's small and barely there, but it makes warmth course through Sherry's being.

They spend the rest of the day huddled on the sofa, watching sitcoms they've seen a hundred times before.

And if Sherry sends a text to Klaus saying the coast is (somewhat, arguably) clear, well, it's not like Zero notices.

He doesn't notice the text Klaus sends back either. A simple, 'I'll be in the diner tomorrow.'

——

Zero shuffles through the diner doors, hands in the pockets of his dark jean jacket and head ducked. There's a plain, black baseball cap covering his hair. Along with that, the hood of his hoody is pulled over it, the black colour of it blending effortlessly into the cap. Sniffing, Zero comes to the conclusion that the diner is more or less empty, there's just the scent of Sai and Sherry and two others who are sat at the back, whispering quietly to each other. There's also the scent of Klaus, it's not as present as the others, it's sort of mild. Like he had been in the diner recently. Zero forces himself to ignore the scent.

There's a low and long whistle that catches his attention, followed by an appreciative murmur of, "damn, I forgot how good you looked in black." 

Zero registers it as Sai's voice. "Ha, Ha." He mutters, rolling his heterochromatic coloured eyes under the shadow of his baseball cap. He can just about see what Sai is wearing, bright red heeled boots and a pencil skirt. 

"Oh, honey," Sai says, eyeing Zero up and down like a piece of marbled meat, "I'm _serious_.” 

Flushing, Zero walks past the black haired female with a grumbled, "knock it off.” 

He gets a dreamy sigh as a response, along with a purred, "Of course, _Master Zero_.” 

Ah. So Sherry has told Sai about his hair changing colour. The traitor. Ignoring her, Zero stops at the front counter, nose twitching. Klaus's scent is stronger here. He doesn't get to think about it because Sherry walks out from the kitchen door, holding cleaning supplies. She sends Zero a smile. "Welcome back, Master Zero," she greets happily. 

Feeling one of his eyebrow twitch in annoyance, Zero gives a displeased frown. "Stop calling me _that_," he voices in a hushed tone. 

"Hmm?" Sherry hums, waking around the counter with an air of innocence. "Oh! By your title? I haven't called you that since we left home.” 

"Yeah. _Exactly_." Zero's frown deepens. "No one here needs to know about _that_.” 

"Not to be rude or anything," Sherry shrugs her shoulders, her plum coloured hair falling behind her as she does so, "but your hair and eye sort of give it away." And with that, she leaves to go clean the washroom. 

Heaving a tired sigh, Zero enters the kitchen. The door closes behind him with a quiet 'thump' just as he registers another being in the room. 

The intense scent of woods after rainfall suffocates Zero. It's so dark and heavy that it makes his whole body trembles. 

_Klaus_, the voice in the back of his head whispers. _Predator_


	11. Chapter 11

i finally updated xD

aNYWAYS GO READ MY NEW BOOK! It's a DABI fic 😤 it's called cherry milkshakes, text messages and video games 😤😤😤

_ **Chapter Eleven:** _

Hunger.

Klaus has felt hunger many a times in his long life. First when he was a child, eyeing the many apples a lone merchant was selling. His stomach had been pitifully crying at him, begging for the pain of hunger to disappear. Second, when he was turned by his mother — the hunger for blood was different than the hunger for food, it was dizzying and it changed you. It was consuming, like the only thing you could think about was the burning, coppery taste of blood. And without it, you were nothing.

The hunger he feels now... it's not like either of those. This hunger gnaws at his chest, makes it burn, burn, burn. It simers beneath his skin, bubbling like hot water boiling over a stove. It's angry, ready for some sort of attack.

Klaus slams his hand against the door, it makes a dent just to the side of Zero's head. He growls lowly, chest rumbling with the sound because Zero had just tried to reach for the door handle so he could escape. Klaus wasn't going to let him leave, no, not until he had answers. Because here he was, feeling and he would very much like to know why. Zero trembles underneath him, scrambling to push himself closer to the door to make as much space between them as he can. He ducks his head, the cap he's wearing along with his hood constricting Klaus's view of his face.

Klaus leans closer, to murmur against the hood over his ear, "I'm going to take you away," he says, "so we can have a nice little chat." Other than a sharp intake of breath and a small nod, he doesn't get any other reaction from Zero. Scowling, Klaus leans away. He still can't see the younger's face. Feeling irritation spark through his being, Klaus swiftly pulls Zero's hood down. He pauses, one hand hovering over his black cap — there are locks of white hair sticking out from underneath the edges. Zero places a shaky hand over Klaus's own, jerking his head from side to side to indicate a no.

With a click of his tongue, Klaus pulls Zero's cap off anyway. It falls to the ground with barely a sound.

Oh.

_Oh_.

Zero's hair is white.

Okay. Klaus is officially confused. More confused than he usually is with Zero, but whatever. He's somewhat used to it by now.

Sherry is half Ghoul and half Zombie? Okay. Sai is a Witch with raging hormones who is also part Ghoul? Klaus understands. Zero purrs and constantly avoids answering questions about whether or not he's fully human? Fan-fucking-tastic.

It's a known fact. The sky is blue. Kol is a whore. Zero makes you confused. Simple. 

Carefully, Klaus holds Zero's chin between his thumb and index finger, lifting his head slowly higher. "_Pretty_," he breathes out, completely enthralled by what he then sees. One of Zero's eyes is completely black, the ring around his pupil shining in gold. The skin around it is pale, startlingly white. The same exact shade of his hair. Zero flushes, his cheeks turning red. Klaus slips his hand lower, around the side of his neck so that his fingers thread through white hair and his thumb rubs gently against a soft cheek.

Zero makes a high, needy sound, almost like a keen. His scent suddenly sky rockets into the air and Klaus feels his senses run into overdrive. He can now taste syrupy fruit on his tongue, heavy and sweet and tantalising. Zero's heartbeat rings in his ears, thumping quickly and loudly. Klaus feels his fangs ache with the need to bite, not for blood, just for the simple act of marking up Zero's neck. So that everyone knows who he belongs to.

"You.... you need to stop _that_." Zero's voice is high, a little breathy actually. He weakly pushes away at Klaus's chest.

"Me?" Klaus asks, offended. "You're the one who's... who's doing _this_ to me."

"Oh, yeah because I'm the one who's filling up the room with _pheromones_," Zero has the nerve to sound snarky.

Scoffing, Klaus pulls away and takes a few steps back. Opposite him, Zero sags onto the door, holding one hand over his erratically beating heart. The other one is fisted in his jeans, knuckles pale and shaking. He tilts his head back, inhaling deeply as he exposes the pale length of his neck. Klaus has to force his gaze away, every nerve is his body screaming at him to just grab Zero and sink his teeth into—

"Stop it." Zero scowls, matching his gaze with Klaus's own.

"Stop what?"

"That."

"I'm not doing anything—"

"Oh really? Cause to me it seems like you're—"

Klaus cuts off Zero with a threatening growl, bluey green eyes narrowing.

Zero closes his mouth shut with an audible click and crosses his arms across his chest. He moves his gaze to the side to glare at one of the counters, his lips jutting out in an angry pout.

"Hand." Klaus orders, holding out his own for the youngers.

"No." Zero doesn't even look at him. 

"_Hand_." He repeats, clenching his jaw. 

Sniffing, Zero turns his nose up into the air stubbornly. "No."

"Either you give me your hand or I'm going to pull you over my shoulder and take you out the front door that way."

Slowly, Zero shifts his line of sight back to Klaus. "You wouldn't," he mutters, narrowing his heterochromatic eyes.

Klaus raises a single brow. "Wouldn't I, love?"

The pet name seems to work because Zero sucks in his bottom lip, nibbling into the pink flesh there. He eyes Klaus's hand warily and takes a tentative step forward. "Just to talk?" He asks, voice small and quiet.

"Yes," Klaus swipes a tongue over his lips, "just to talk." He almost sighs in relief when Zero finally curls his smaller hand around his own much larger one.

——

Zero face plants onto Klaus's bed. The Mikaelsons boarding house is nice. Really nice. There are old paintings and delicate vases, long staircases and large rooms — everything smells of blueberries and sandalwood, of woods after a rainy day, there's even a hint of spices here and there. Fresh yet homey.

"What are you doing?" Klaus asks, the tone of his voice exasperated.

"Taking a nap," Zero answers, snuggling into one of Klaus's pillows and making himself comfortable on top of the bed sheets. He sighs contentedly, fluttering his eyes closed.

Klaus makes a noise akin to a snort. "I believe that's a form of avoidance."

"Is it?" Zero asks innocently. "I wouldn't know."

The bed dips just to the side of him and a hand makes its way into his hair. Klaus pets him like one would pet a dog's fur. Zero starts making quiet, little purring noises. He's so calm now. There's no fear, no anger, no voice in the back of his mind telling him what a monster he is. There's just Klaus, the scent of woods after rainfall and quietness. 

Klaus's hand pauses in his hair. "You're hair is turning black," he mutters, tone bordering on disbelief.

Zero makes a sound of protest and Klaus goes back to petting him. "It's changing back," he muffles into the pillow after a moment of silence, "because I'm coming to terms with something."

"With what?" Klaus asks.

"Sometimes," Zero shifts to snuggle more into the pillow, "whenever I get sad or something happens that I don't particularly like, a part of me, well, the primal part of me, decides it wants to take over. Once I have my emotions under control, it sort of goes back into the background."

"What made you upset?"

"I met someone."

"Oh?"

Zero opens his eyes to stare at the wall opposite him. There's an odd painting hung on the wall, the flowers are bleeding and the sun looks like it's crying. He's glad he isn't facing Klaus when he opens his mouth to murmur, "I think her name is Caroline."

The hand in his hair stills once again.

"She's pretty," Zero continues on. "I got upset because she said you'd make me miserable and I didn't believe her. I've come to terms with her existence and the fact that at one point you must have had feelings for her. It's hard. Especially when all I want to do is throttle her and feed her to Sherry."

Klaus laughs, low and throaty. "Is that what happened to the others before me?"

"Maybe," Zero answers with half a smile. In reality, there hasn't been anyone before Klaus. For a few minutes, it's quiet again. When Zero tethers over the edge of awareness, succumbing to sleep, Klaus asks, "this primal part of you... what is it?"

"I'm a Hollow," Zero whispers it like it's a deep, dark secret never to be told to just anyone. "Hollows are former deceased human souls. We're beings that have lost our hearts. That's where all our pain and other negative emotions come from."

"But you have a heart," Klaus's voice is filled with confusion.

"Yeah," Zero mumbles, closing his eyes and stifling a yawn, "that's where the system sort of fucks up."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve** : 

“Hey, Zero. You just had a box delivered at my place,” Sherry announces as she walks through the dinner doors. Her plum coloured hair is tied up in a messy bun today and there’s a thin layer of liner around her eyes. “Weird, since you don’t live with me. But not surprising, considering you haven’t told anyone back home your new address.” 

Zero raises a single brow, setting mugs filled with coffee and tea and plates filled with slices of cake down onto table four for their usual occupants. Kol hurriedly reaches for the tiramisu and Rebekah sends him the stink eye, elbowing him in the ribs. “Ow!” Kol makes a face as he rubs a hand down his ribs. 

“I wanted that,” Rebekah scowls. 

“Yeah, well, you should have been quicker.” Kol sticks his tongue out childishly.

“Now, now, children,” Elijah soothes, making it seem like he’s reaching for a sugar packet when in reality he grasps the edges of the tiramisu’s plate and swiftly pulls it towards him. 

“Hey!” Kol whines. “That was mine.” 

“No,” Rebekah stresses, “it was  _ mine _ .” 

“Actually,” Finn pipes in, “that was meant for me.” He looks purely smug as he takes the plate away from Elijah and settles it right in front of him. Digging his fork into the tiramisu, he brings a piece up to his mouth and obscenely moans around it. 

“I’m jealous,” Kol says, “very, very,  _ very _ jealous.” 

“You do realise that they probably have more stock in the back?” Klaus makes an unimpressed face. He brings his coffee up to his lips, peering over the rim at Zero who immediately turns his gaze away. 

“Is that why you’re late?” Zero asks, stepping closer to Sherry. 

“Late is an understatement,” Sherry mutters, holding out the box to Zero. She flickers her gaze quickly around the dinner. “Where’s Sai?”

“Here,” Sai groans somewhere from behind the counter. She raises a pale arm into the air and it peeks over the counter. “I’m okay, just taking an impromptu nap.” 

Sherry sighs, long and suffering. Like she’s in actual pain from being around beings with lower intellect everyday. “Whatever,” she shakes her head and pushes the box in her arms closer to Zero, “are you going to take it or not?”

“Ew, no. That’s a delivery from my mother,” Zero steps away like he had just been burned. He eyes the box with distrust, specifically the part with the return address scribbled on. “The last thing she delivered was me and I’m still trying to clean up that mess.” 

There’s muffled laughter from Kol and a snort from Rebekah, behind the counter at the front Sai is laughing, openly and loudly. 

Sherry sighs. “Aren’t you the least bit curious as to what she’s sent you?” 

“Ha,” Zero deadpans, “unless it’s a brand new childhood, I’m not interested.” He turns to leave into the kitchen and Sherry follows after him. “Ah, ah,” Zero blocks the door to the kitchen. “Throw that thing away. Let the bomb squad figure it out.”

For a moment, Sherry looks like she might deck him, but then she rolls her eyes so far back Zero thinks she might need an exorcism just to get them back down. She drops the box by the door and then follows Zero into the kitchen once he allows her. 

“Maybe there’s money inside it,” Sherry tries to reason. Why was Zero being so stubborn? The least he could do was open the damn thing and get it over with. She folds her arms across her chest when Zero laughs with his whole body, shoulders shaking and chest heaving with the effort. He wipes away a stray tear. “Golden material, Sherry. You should be a comedian.” 

Scowling, Sherry watches as Zero brings out extra tiramisu. He carefully cuts it into even pieces and then settles it into one big plate. “I’m sending it back tomorrow,” he says, “I will die on my deathbed being content with the knowledge that I’ll never know what’s inside that box.” 

“Right,” Sherry mutters, not surprised in the least. She follows Zero back out into the dinner… only to find Sai and the others hoarding around Zero’s box, hands stuck inside the thing and eyes wide as they get caught in the act. She couldn’t be more proud of them. 

“Well obviously none of you deserve the extra tiramisu,” Zero scoffs, settling the plate on the edge of the counter. 

Kol makes an awkward sobbing sound. 

“I tried to stop them,” Rebekah tries. Her act is quite convincing, innocent eyes and a guilty frown. She even slaps Finn’s hand away.

Zero isn’t the least bit convinced.

“Away from the bomb,” He sighs, moving forward and pushing everyone’s hands away. 

“It’s not a bomb,” Sai says, shifting her sunglasses further up the bridge of her nose. “Believe me, even I’m surprised. And that’s saying something.”

Ignoring her, Zero picks up the box and maneuvers it over to the next table, just so the others can’t see what expression he’ll make when he actually looks inside. He stands with his back facing everyone but Sherry. The female is leaning against the counter and she sends him a reassuring smile. God, how can she be so nice to him when he’s always acting like such a dick? Exhaling softly, Zero opens the box furthermore and then slowly pulls out the first item he comes into contact with. 

It’s a teddy bear. It’s nice and soft, has fluffy brown fur and smells like  _ home _ . For a split second, Zero is back in his old bedroom. There are ramen cups all over the floor, the lightbulb is pulsing, barely working and he’s under the covers, shivering from the cold, clutching onto his teddy bear. Zero sags against the box and runs the tips of his fingers through brown faux fur. He wraps a hand around the middle of the bear and barely squeezes. For a second there’s just static, but then a childish, high voice comes through. The words are foreign, Japanese. 

_ “I’m going to take over the world!”  _

Rebekah makes a cooing sound somewhere behind him. “Aw, is that baby Zero?” She asks. 

“Hasn't changed one bit,” Kol mutters snidely.

Zero laughs, quiet and soft, “I think I was about eight,” he says and then squeezes the bear again. 

“ _ Alright, Hanabi. Repeat after me. ‘Hello, my name is…’” _

There’s a small pause and then a female’s voice comes through, weak and stuttering. 

_ “H-hewo, h-h…” _

A pang of emotions hit Zero hard, they sit over his chest heavily, making it suddenly hard to breathe. A lump forms in the back of his throat and his eyes sting.  _ Hanabi. _ God. He misses her. He misses her so much. He misses her gentle smile and her kind eyes, her scent and every small thing about her. A hand settles on his lower back and he sucks in a sharp breath, swallows past the lump in his throat and blinks back away tears as he registers the warmth of Sherry’s hand. 

“It’s fine. You don’t have to look through it anymore,” she murmurs, leaning over his shoulder so that she can press her cheek against his own. 

Unconsciously, Zero tightens his grip on the teddy. Four new voices come through the speaker. 

_ “I’m going to marry Zero.”  _

_ “No, I’m going to marry Zero.” _

_ “Ha. Why should any of you losers get to marry Zero? He’s mine.” _

_ “No way, I’m marrying Zero!” _

_ “Uh. I’m sitting right here and I’m saying no.”  _

  
Feeling a smile stretch across his lips, Zero buries his face into the bears soft fur. He inhales the scent of home, however stale it is and relaxes. 

“Hold on. Are we allowed dibs? Because I want to marry Zero too,” Sai admits, raising a hand into the air. 

Sherry moves away from Zero, hands placed on her hips. “Back off, I saw him first.” 

“Ladies,” Kol runs a hand through his brown hair, “you’re forgetting that I’m also here. And as someone who cares deeply about Zero—”

”You mean his cooking skills,” Rebekah cuts in. “And who says I can’t marry Zero either?” 

“For the benefit of saving you from Niklaus, I’m also available for marriage.” Elijah smiles. 

Fin shrugs. “I suppose I could also try for your hand in marriage. If only to annoy everyone else. I am after all, the best one here.”

Zero blinks, slightly off guard when Klaus pulls him by the hips and pushes him behind himself, a deep scowl etched at his lips. “No.” He says, clearly perplexed by the idea of someone else having something that’s supposed to belong to him. Zero feels heat radiate throughout his chest and across his cheeks. He wraps his fingers into the back of Klaus’s jacket and buries his face into the material, purring loudly as he does so. 

The others all groan, arguing about how unfair it is that only Klaus gets to have special attention. Kol and Sai are especially loud. 

They’re idiots. 

But they’re Zero’s idiots. 

And he sort of, kind of, wants to punch them all in the faces… with positive feelings. Because he’s nice, alright. 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM ALIVEEEE AAHHHHH--  
((contrary to popular belief))

**Chapter Thirteen: **

"Alright people, huddle up, huddle up." Sai calls them over into the kitchen, outfit as classy as ever. She's dressed in a coffee coloured pencil skirt and a white button up with pretty frills near the buttons. She's paired up her outfit with a dark coloured blazer and black stiletto heels. Her usual shades are sat upon the bridge of her nose, perfectly hiding her eyes. 

"It's Sunday," Sherry says, tone flat, "why the fuck did you call us here?" Her left eyebrow twitches as she speaks, "what's the point of even closing the diner up if all you fuckers still manage to get inside?"

"Ha," Kol laughs, smirk wide. "No point at all." 

He then dodges an assault of Sherry's hand, sticking his tongue out at her childishly. Before the two can even start a squaffle, Elijah steps in between them, smile fond as he keeps the two apart. "As much as I like being around all of you on a _ wonderful _ Sunday morning, aren't we missing someone?" He questions. 

"Well," Sai starts, holding the kitchen door open with her foot. A clipboard along with a fountain pen suddenly appear in her hands, forming from out of thin air. She clears her throat. "Let's see… Elijah? Yes, he's here," she ticks something off on the clipboard, "Finn, Klaus, Kol," three more ticks, "Rebekah, Sherry and me… no, we're all here." 

"Zero," Klaus grunts, lips forming into a displeased scowl, "we're missing Zero."

"Yeah," Rebekah nods, "where's the cook?" 

"Where's the tiramisu?" Finn adds quietly, distraught over the fact that he can't see the dessert anywhere.

Kol's mouth falls open into a loud gasp. "Where's the ice cream?" 

"You called us here and you can't even control us, go figure," Sherry shoves her hands into the pockets of her jacket, sighing dramatically. 

Behind her sunglasses, Sai rolls her eyes. There's one thing the crowd wants collectively and she has it -- well _ sort of _. She just needs everyone to get into the kitchen. Why did they have to be so stubborn about it? Gah. 

"I have cute videos of Zero," she gambles. "_ Annnnd… _ pictures of him from kindergarten."

Which is both a stretch and a _ lie _, but oh well. 

At once, everyone in the dinner looks towards her with rapt attention.

_ Bingo. _

"If you could all just get into the kitchen--"

"Out of my way," Rebekah cuts her off, forcing her way past Sai and into the kitchen. Stumbling, Sai catches her balance and waits as everyone shuffles past her, murmuring about how badly they want to see the videos. Sai can't help but smirk, wide and ravenous. The clipboard and pen disappear as she closes the door behind her with a click. At once, the kitchen twists, colours turning and lights switching, everything morphs into something else until it looks like a mini cinema. There are a handful of red seats, nice and plush. The room is now dark, dimly lit by the large screen built into the far wall. To their side is a trolley filled with popcorn and other refreshments. 

"Ladies and gents," Sai claps her hands for attention. She moves to the front of the room and stands in front of the screen, all business and professional.

Sherry makes a face. "_ What the fuck." _

"Shh," Finn shushes, leading the plum haired female to take a seat beside him, "this actually looks promising."

"Surprisingly," Kol can't help but mutter underneath his breath.

"Refreshments are to the side. Toilets are here," Sai points somewhere into the distance and then to her left, "and here. Please make sure to be quiet during the movie. Questions are to be kept for the end. Thank you." She then promptly sits next to Klaus, crossing one leg over the other. With a snap of her fingers the large screen comes fully to life, colours flashing and objects forming.

The movie starts to play. In the first scene, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, the sun is high up in the sky and the gentle breeze is swaying pink petals throughout the air.

Somewhere in the back, Sherry chokes.

Sai waves her hand and promptly shuts her up with her magic. 

She can't have her wife ruining her plans.

If Zero won't talk about his issues and what not, that's fine. Sai will just have to tell the story for him.

\----

_ //. the day i met you, wasn't the first. surely we had met before, much, much earlier. you just pretend we didn't and i couldn't quite remember. then again, we had both changed our hair colour. maybe as a way to cope with our terrible pasts. or just maybe so we wouldn't stand out so much. -- Sherry. // _

_ September this year is warm. Much warmer than the year before. Zero walks down the many streets of western Japan, barely paying attention to the hoards of children walking past him to get on time to their first day of elementary school. He pauses in his steps to gaze at himself in the nearby glass window of a corner shop. He's dressed in the classic japanese uniform for middle school. Plain, black and white -- sort of cute. Just like a uniform should be. His dark coloured hair is ruffled and there are dark circles underneath his grey eyes. He straightens out his bangs in the glass and then slowly moves on. _

_ Today is his official welcoming ceremony. It's his first day of middle school and he's sour about it. Zero would have rather stayed at home, buried under several blankets, sleeping the days away. He kicks at a nearby rock and watches it skid across the ground and into a nearby wall. _

_ When he gets close enough to school grounds, he eyes the closed gates with a raised brow. A few students are stud in front of it, dyed hair and piercings, untucked shirts and sneakers, some of them even have tattoos. _

_ Ah. The delinquents. _

_ Zero stops just behind them, tilting his head to get a look at whoever's stood on the other side of the gate. It's a female, with shoulder length black hair and dark brown eyes. She's unbelievably pale, so pale actually, that she could probably blend into the colour white. Her arms are crossed over her chest, showcasing the red band wrapped around her bicep. Zero squints his eyes to read the golden letters stitched into the red material. 'Student Council,' it reads. And underneath it, 'Class President.' _

_ Zero can't help but snort. _

_ The female taps her foot restlessly against the ground. "I won't be letting any of you in until you fix your appearances. The nerve of you lot, coming in an hour late when you all know damn well that we're holding a ceremony for the new first years today." _

_ "Tch. Who cares about that. Let us in," one of the delinquents demands. The others agree, loud and aggressive. _

_ Zero rolls his eyes. He pushes past the group, ignores the insults they hurl his way and shrugs off his backpack. He throws it over the top of the gates and watches as the backpack flies over and lands on the other side, right at the President's feet. The female stares at him in confusion, blinking slowly. She smells oddly familiar. Perhaps Zero has met her before? He hums, but doesn't acknowledge the notion. _

_ "What are you doing?" She asks. _

_ In favour of ignoring her, Zero climbs up the tall gate with swift and nimble movements, barely pausing for breath until he's at the top. _

_ "Hey! Are you crazy? You'll injure yourself." _

_ Huffing out a quiet laugh, Zero jumps down and lands on his feet, low to the ground and crouching. He grabs his backpack as he stands back up to his height and swings it over his shoulder. _

_ The President's eyes are wide and her mouth is slightly parted. She scrunches up her eyebrows and something like recognition sparks in her dark eyes. _

_ Zero hopes she doesn't remember him. Because he vividly remembers her now. She had been stuck in a room made of four plain walls, sharp needles were her day to day torture, electrical tests were circulated straight to her brain-- _

_ And Zero had saved her. Had forced his way into that shrewd building on the outskirts of a nearby town, had killed everyone in sight and then found her. Nameless and scared, wired up to machines. She had looked at him with dark eyes, skin pale and hair coloured like plums, limbs shaky and lips closed tight to not let any sounds out. He had reached out to her, placed his warm hand on her cold cheek and smiled. Told her it was okay and that the bad guys were gone, weren't ever going to hurt her again. And even though he was covered in blood, smelled like iron and copper, like death itself, she had trusted him. And as soon as he had her safely tucked away, he left. _

_ Zero was no longer the same person. He wasn't kind, he wasn't merciful -- he was a monster, through and through. He was a child, forced to play by anothes rules. He'll change that, soon enough. _

_ "It's you…," the female breathes out, voice shaky. Her gaze trails up to Zero's hair and she frowns. "Your hair… isn't orange." She laughs but it sounds forced, fake. "Nevermind. Sorry, I thought you were someone else." _

_ Above them, the wind tussles the nearby cherry blossoms and from that, small petals the lightest shade of pink fall down onto them. _

_ Zero's chest burns, burns, burns. _

_ But he's long learned to ignore the feeling. So he goes on, moves on and doesn't ever look back. _

_ Until, of course, he has to. _


End file.
